Commanders trading star pass rusher Chase Young to the San Francisco 49ers
The Washington Commanders are reportedly sending star defensive end Chase Young to the 49ers, adding another play-making pass rusher to San Francisco’s already-stout defensive front.
Washington will receive a compensatory third-round pick for Young, according to ESPN.
Young, the second overall pick in the 2020 draft and a former Defensive Rookie of the Year, is only 24 years old and enjoying a resurgent season with five sacks in the seven games he’s played.
But the Commanders, who fell to 3-5 with back-to-back losses to the Giants and Eagles the last two weekends, opted to receive compensation now for Young, an impending free agent.
Young fortifies a San Francisco line that already features the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Nick Bosa and fellow big-money standouts in Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave.
It’s the second year in a row the 49ers (5-3) made a major midseason acquisition before the NFL trade deadline, having added do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey last October.
This year’s trade came a day after the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks, who lead the division at 5-2, beefed up their defensive line by acquiring Leonard Williams from the Giants.
The much-touted Young burst onto the scene with 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown during a Pro Bowl rookie season, living up to the lofty hype that made him a prized prospect coming out of Ohio State.
A torn ACL and ruptured patellar tendon in Young’s right knee in 2021, however, ended his second NFL season after nine games and limited him to only three last year.
The Commanders also agreed before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline to send another big-name pass rusher, Montez Sweat, to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick. Losing Young and Sweat weakens a once-loaded Washington defensive line that still boasts Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen.
Those trades helped headline a busy deadline day in which the Minnesota Vikings, who lost Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles tear Sunday, acquired quarterback Josh Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals in a deal also involving a swap of late-round picks.
Dobbs passed for 1,569 yards and eight touchdowns and ran for three more through eight games for 1-7 Arizona but was poised to lose the starting quarterback job with Kyler Murray nearing a return from last season’s ACL tear.
